Protective bands for skis

ABSTRACT

Protective bands of hard material for the upper and lower lateral edge of a ski and formed with two series of slits extending respectively from the first or the second edge of the band and terminating respectively short of the second or of the first edge thereof. These slits may be transverse to the longitudinal axis of the band or at an angle thereto. They may terminate short of the mean longitudinal axis of the band. The protective band may have a reinforced lower edge and a flanged upper edge which overlays the adjacent marginal portion of the upper side of the ski, and be formed from two extruded blanks, one with the flanged upper edge, the other one with the reinforced lower edge, by cutting these blanks to substantially half the height of the ski, by superposing them and by welding them to each other along their meeting edges.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Jean Michal La Mairoude, Rives, France [21 Appl. No. 820,258 [22] Filed Apr. 29, 1969 [45] Patented June 1, 1971 [32] Priority May 21,1968 [33] France [31 50034 [54] PROTECTIVE BANDS FOR SKIS 3 Claims, 15 Drawing Figs. [52] US. Cl 280/11.13, 29/475 [51] Int. Cl A63c 5/04 [50] Field ol'Search 280/1 1.13, 28; 29/475 [56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 2,188,582 1/1940 Serr 280/ll.13(F) 3,401,949 9/1968 Fouillet ..280/l 1.13(EH) Primary Examiner-Leo Friaglia Attorney'Alexander & Dowell 280/ll.13E 280/1L13R m l l ABSTRACT: Protective bands of hard material for the upper and lower lateral edge of a ski and formed with two series of slits extending respectively from the first or the second edge of the band and terminating respectively short of the second or of the first edge thereof. These slits may be transverse to the longitudinal axis of the band or at an angle thereto. They may terminate short of the mean longitudinal axis of the band. The protective band may have a reinforced lower edge and a flanged upper edge which overlays the adjacent marginal portion of the upper side of the ski, and be formed from two extruded blanks, one with the flanged upper edge, the other one with the reinforced lower edge, by cutting these blanks to substantially half the height of the ski, by superposing them and by welding them to each other along their meeting edges.

PROTECTIVE BANDS FOR SKIS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to skis and it more particularly concerns the protective plates or bands which are frequently provided along the lateral sides of the ski, or sometimes along its upper side in order to avoid any superficial damage under the action of hard bodies such as ice blocks or stones.

In order to be effective these bands must be made of a relatively hard material such as an aluminum alloy of substantial hardness. The ski is then protected in a practically sufficient manner. But experience demonstrates that these relatively hard protective bands stiffen the ski, which is of course a disadvantage since one of the conditions required from a good ski is that it should flex easily on the snow in order to adapt itself to the surface on which it slides.

' It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide means whereby the flexibility of the ski will not be impaired by hard protective bands disposed along its lateral sides and/or its upper side.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance. with the present invention in a ski having hard protective bands along its lateral sides and/or its upper side, each one of the said bands has two series of slits, each slit of the first series extending from a first edge of the band and terminating short of the second edge thereof, while the slits of the second series extend from the second edge of the band and terminate short of the first edge thereof, each series extending substantially along the whole length of the band.

In a preferred embodiment the slits of the first series are interdigitated with those of the second series, each slit of one series being followed by a slit of the other one.

According to another characteristic of the invention a lateral band'is formed by means of two extruded blanks, one having a flanged upper edge adapted to overlay the adjacent marginal portion of the upper side of the ski and the other having a reinforced lower edge, these blanks being cut to half the height of the ski along its length, and being thereafter superposed and welded along their meeting edges.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side view ofa ski in the free state.

FIG. 2 shows the ski in the flexed state.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatical fragmental longitudinal section illustrating the stresses which appear in the ski of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a side view ofa lateral band according to the invention.

FIG. Sis a plan view thereofv FIG. 6 is a plan view of a modification.

FIG. 7 shows the band of FIG. 4 in the flexed state, the degree of curvature being considerably exaggerated for the purpose of illustration.

FIGS. 8 to 11 are side views showing some other possible embodiments of a lateral protective band according to the invention.

FIG. 12 is a fragmental perspective view with transverse section of a ski having a lateral protective band comprising an upper flange and a lower reinforced edge.

FIG. 13 diagrammatically illustrates the longitudinal profile which must be given to the lateral protective band of a con ventional ski.

FIG. I4 is a fragmental perspective view with transverse section similar to FIG. 12 but illustrating a modification.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view with transverse section of a ski having protective bands on its lateral sides and on its upper side.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 in the free state a conventional ski I has an arcuate longitudinal shape with the curvature opening downwardly. In use the weight of the skier is applied to the central portion of the ski, as indicated at W in FIG. 2. On a hard flat surface the ski becomes straight, but on a relatively soft snow its central portion sinks and the ski flexes with its curvature now opening upwardly, as shown in FIG. 2.

As the ski I flexes from the state of FIG. 1, to that of FIG. 2, its upper layers are compressed longitudinally while its lower layers are stretched as respectively indicated by arrows 2 and 3. Reference 4 designates the neutral plane, i.e. the plane wherein the material of the ski is not stressed. For a good flexibility the respective lengthwise contraction and elongation of the upper and lower layers of the ski under the weight of the skier should be substantial. It is obvious that ifa hard and relatively rigid protective band is secured to the lateral sides of the ski, these contraction and elongation are considerably reduced.

The same disadvantage occurs ifa hard band is applied onto the upper side of the ski. This band limits the contraction of the upper layers, In other words the neutral plane 4, normally situated midway of the thickness of the ski as shown in FIG. 3, is displaced towards the upper side thereof whereby the flexibility of the ski is greatly impaired.

The lateral band 5 illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 does not reduce the flexibilityof the ski to which it is applied. This band. is formed with two series of transverse slits, respectively 5a and 5b, the slits 5a of the first series extending from the upper edge 50 of the band and terminating short of the lower edge 5d thereof, while the slits 5b of the second series extend from the lower edge 5d and terminate short of the upper edge 50. Moreover the slits of a series are interdigitated with those of the other series, each slit 5a being followed by a slit 5b and vice versa.

The band of FIGS. 4 and 5 is highly flexible. If, as illustrated in a deliberately exaggerated manner in FIG. 6, it is submitted to a load W which tends to lower its central portion with respect to its ends, the upper slits 5a contract, while the lower slits 5b expand. It is obvious that such a band, if applied against one of the lateral slides of a ski, will not noticeably stiffen the latter.

FIG. 7 diagrammatically illustrates a modification wherein the slits such as 1511, while being still directed transversely with respect to the lateral sides of the band 15, are at an angle on the upper (or lower) edge thereof. In FIG. 8 each slit 25a, 25b of the band 25 terminates into a hole 25e, 25f drilled in the band; this may be of interest in the case of very brittle materials wherein the inner end of a slit may determine a breakage of the material owing to a concentration of stresses.

In FIGS. 9 and 10 the slits 35a, 35b, respectively 45a, 45b are obliquely provided on the lateral sides of the band 35, respectively 45, either in the same direction (FIG. 9) or in opposed directions (FIG. 10).

In the embodiments above described the slits extend beyond a longitudinal line situated midway of the edges of the band, as for instance line AA in FIG. 10, but it is also possible to terminate the slits short of line A-A, as indicated for the slits 55a and 55b of band 55 in FIG. 11. With such an arrangement the band comprises a plain central portion which is relatively rigid, but since the width a of this portion is relatively small, the flexibility of the band is not undesirably reduced.

In FIG. 12 a lateral band 65 applied against a ski 61 comprises a reinforced lower edge 65d and an inwardly flanged upper edge 650 which overlays the adjacent marginal portion of the upper side 61a of the ski. Here again the band is formed with two interdigitated series of slits 65a and 65b respectively opening on the upper edge and on the lower edge of the band which thus remains highly flexible in spite of the presence of the thickened edge 65d and of the flanged edge 65c.

A difficulty in the manufacture of a protective band as illustrated in FIG. 12 is that its height should decrease towards the ends of the ski in accordance with the thickness of the latter. In other words the band should have the longitudinal profile diagrammatically shown at 75 in FIG. 13. It is obvious that such a band with a cross section of variable height cannot be directly obtained by an extrusion process. In practice a blank is extruded with the reinforced lower edge, and the flanged upper edge is realized by a subsequent bending operation.

This is of course a somewhat expensive manufacturing process.

A solution to this problem consists in extruding two elementary bands, a first one 85 (FIG. 14) comprising the flanged upper edge 85c and the other one 95 having the reinforced lower edge 95d. These elementary bands are thereafter cut lengthwise in such manner that their height or width at each point along their length corresponds to half the thickness of the ski 101 in the corresponding zone.

A series of slits 85a are then formed in the first elementary band 85, each extending from the flanged upper edge 85c and terminating short of the other edge of band 85. ln the same manner a series of slits 95a are formed in the second elemen' tary band 95, these slits starting from the reinforced lower edge 95d andterminating short of the unreinforced edge.

The elementary bands 85 and 95 are then juxtaposed in substantially the same plane with the unflanged edge of the first in contact with the unreinforced edge of the second one and they are welded to each other at spaced intervals along their meeting edges, as indicated at 6. There is thus finally obtained a highly flexible composite lateral band 85-95 similar to the band of FIG. 12, but in which each slit terminates short of a longitudinal line situated midway of the edges of the composite band, as explained with reference to H0. 11.

In the embodiment of FIG. 15 the ski 111 comprises lateral protective bands 115 and also an upper protective band 117 extending along its upper side. The upper slits 115a of lateral bands 115 extend across a portion of the width of the upper band 117 beyond the middle longitudinal line or axis thereof, as shown at 1170 and ll7b. When the ski flexes from the shape of FIG. 1 to that of FIG. 2, its upper layers are com pressed as indicated by arrows 2 in FIG. 3. Owing to the presence of slits 117a and 117b, the upper band 117 may easily follow the lengthwise contraction of the upper side of the ski without impairing the flexibility thereof.

lclaim:

l. A protective band for the lateral sides of a ski also having an upper side, said band embodying a flanged upper edge to overlay the adjacent marginal portion of the upper side of said ski, and a reinforced lower edge, and said band being formed with a first and a second series of slits, with the slits of the first series extending from the flanged upper edge of the band and terminating short of the reinforced lower edge thereof, and with the slits ol' the second series extending from the reinforced lower edge of the band and terminating short of the flanged upper edge thereof.

2. In a protective band as claimed in claim 1, the slits of the first series being interdigitated with those of the second series. 3. A method for the manufacture ofa highly flexible protective band for the lateral sides of a ski having a variable thickness along its length and also formed with an upper side, which consists in extruding a first elementary band having a flanged edge and an unflanged edge; in extruding a second elementary band having a reinforced edge and an unreinforced edge; in longitudinally cutting said first elementary band along its unflanged edge in such manner that its width at any point along its length is equal to half the thickness of the ski in the zone where the said point is to be applied against one lateral side of the ski; in also longitudinally cutting said second elementary band along its unreinforced edge in such manner that its width at any point along its length is equal to half the thickness of the ski in the zone where the said point is to be applied against our lateral side of the ski; in forming in said first elementary band a first series of slits extending from the flanged edge thereof and terminating short of the unflanged edge thereof; in forming in said second elementary band a second series of slits extending from the reinforced edge thereof and terminating short of the unreinforced edge thereof; in disposing said elementary bands side by side in substantially the same plane with the unflanged edge of said first elementary band engaging the unreinforced edge of said second elementary band substantially along the whole length of said first and second elementary bands; and in welding together at least at spaced intervals the unflanged edge of said first elementary band and the unreinforced edge of said second elementary band. 

1. A protective band for the lateral sides of a ski also having an upper side, said band embodying a flanged upper edge to overlay the adjacent marginal portion of the upper side of said ski, and a reinforced lower edge, and said band being formed with a first and a second series of slits, with the slits of the first series extending from the flanged upper edge of the band and terminating short of the reinforced lower edge thereof, and with the slits of the second series extending from the reinforced lower edge of the band and terminating short of the flanged upper edge thereof.
 2. In a protective band as claimed in claim 1, the slits of the first series being interdigitated with those of the second series.
 3. A method for the manufacture of a highly flexible protective band for the lateral sides of a ski having a variable thickness along its length and also formed with an upper side, which consists in extruding a first elementary band having a flanged edge and an unflanged edge; in extruding a second elementary band having a reinforced edge and an unreinforced edge; in longitudinally cutting said first elementary band along its unflanged edge in such manner that its width at any point along its length is equal to half the thickness of the ski in the zone where the said point is to be applied against one lateral side of the ski; in also longitudinally cutting said second elementary band along its unreinforced edge in such manner that its width at any point along its length is equal to half the thickness of the ski in the zone where the said point is to be applied against our lateral side of the ski; in forming in said first elementary band a first series of slits extending from the flanged edge thereof and terminating short of the unflanged edge thereof; in forming in said second elementary band a second series of slits extending from the reinforced edge thereof and terminating short of the unreinforced edge thereof; in disposing said elementary bands side by side in substantially the same plane with the unflanged edge of said first elementary band engaging the unreinforced edge of said second elementary band substantially along the whole length of said first and second elementary bands; and in welding together at least at spaced intervals the unflanged edge of said first elementary band and the unreinforced edge of said second elementary band. 